OPINION: Rain gives peas a chance

What a difference the recent heavy rains have made to gardens and to all agricultural pursuits. Farmers out east received widespread rain. Follow-up rains are essential for crop yields, but this event has lifted hopes across the board. For people who are looking to what the future brings in rainfall, here is a quote from the Bureau of Meteorology: “Much of the eastern Indian Ocean remains warmer than average; three of six models continue to suggest the possibility of a negative Indian Ocean Dipole developing by early spring. Most models show a broad spread of likely scenarios between the neutral and negative IOD range.” The Indian Ocean Dipole is also called the Indian Nino. It refers to an irregular movement of the temperature on the surface of the Western Indian Ocean and weather boffins pay great attention to that as it has a long term effect on our weather. You have probably heard of El Nino. If it gets warmer it is called positive and if it gets colder they call it a negative phase. A bit of tongue-in-cheek history from Paul Blackwell, relating to the terms the BoM uses. He told me, “Al Nino was married to Elsie Nino and they fathered Mary, Louise and Elspeth Nino. Elspeth became a very famous meteorologist who discovered the life changing circulation patterns in the Pacific Ocean than got shortened to The El Nino phenomenon.” The negative phase of El Nino in the Indian Ocean could mean it may rain a bit more than normal this coming spring. We are very fortunate in WA and particularly in Geraldton in this time of the COVID-19 virus that is running rampant through the world. Almost like we are on an island, with beautiful weather and healthy lifestyle. Long may it continue. My apologies, but there was an error in last week’s column, in the description of the construction of the wicking beds described to me by Paul Blackwell (Wicking man sees the lite, 15/7). The shade cloth needs to be on top of the river sand, but the pool liner needs to be at the same level as the top of the gravel fill (as in the diagram). If the pool liner comes up to the shade cloth level the river sand will be saturated and the topsoil will be too wet. Some plants like deeper topsoil than others.